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Marcus Camby
Marcus D. Camby (born March 22, 1974) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading the league in blocked shots per game. Camby is also a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team. High school Camby, a native of Connecticut, began his high school career at Conard High School in West Hartford. He transferred to Hartford Public High School where he finished his high school education. In his senior season, Camby averaged 27 points, 11 rebounds, 8 blocks and 8 assists, en route to a 27-0 record and state title. He was named Gatorade's Connecticut Player of the Year. College career Camby played three seasons for the UMass Minutemen. He is second all-time in total blocked shots (336) at UMass and the fourth-ever college player to have at least 300 total career blocked shots. He had an NCAA freshman record 105 total rejections during his first year at UMass, and was named the Atlantic 10's Freshman of the Year. Camby was named to the A-10's First Team during his sophomore season in 1994-95, as the Minutemen reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Camby won the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award during the 1995–96 season. He led UMass to numerous #1 rankings and the 1996 NCAA Final Four. In the NCAA tournament, Camby set a tourney record of 43 total blocked shots in 11 games. On April 29, 1996, Camby announced that he would forgo his senior year at UMass and enter the NBA Draft. UMass' visit to the Final Four was later officially nullified by the NCAA because Camby had been found to have accepted $28,000 from two sports agents. As part of the penalty, the school was forced to return their $151,617 in revenue from the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Camby later reimbursed the school for the amount lost. According to a 1997 Sports Illustrated article, the agents, John Lounsbury and Wesley Spears of Connecticut, had hoped that Camby would hire them to represent him when he became a professional. The article reported that Camby had also received "jewelry, rental cars and prostitutes" from the agents. Camby was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame on September 10, 2010. Though some criticized the school for inducting a student-athlete who caused their Final Four achievement to be vacated, others saw it as a positive recognition of one of the school's best ever athletes NBA career Toronto Raptors (1996–1998) Camby was selected second overall in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. In his rookie season, he made the NBA All-Rookie First Team, averaging 14.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. In the following season, Camby led the league in blocked shots with 3.7 per game. New York Knicks (1998–2002) He played for the Raptors from 1996–1998, before being traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Charles Oakley; after which the Knicks became the first 8th seed to make it to the NBA Finals during the 1998–99 NBA season. Denver Nuggets (2002–2008) Camby played for the Knicks from 1998–2002, before being traded to the Denver Nuggets, in exchange for Antonio McDyess. Camby led the NBA in blocked shots for several seasons. During the 2005–06 season with the Nuggets he had 12.0 rebounds per game, 9.6 defensive rebounds per game and 1.4 steals per game. He also averaged 12.8 points per game and led the league in blocks per game (3.3), while helping Denver earn a playoff berth by winning the Northwest Division. On December 16, 2006, Camby was involved in the infamous Knicks–Nuggets brawl. He was one of 10 players ejected from the game, but received no suspension. Camby won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 2006–07 season. The honor was the first of Camby's career. He received the actual award from NBA commissioner David Stern during a pregame ceremony at the Nuggets first home 2006–07 playoff game, which was against the San Antonio Spurs on April 28, 2007. During the 2006–07 season, Camby averaged 3.3 blocks per game (first in the league), 11.7 rebounds per game (fifth in the league), 9.3 defensive rebounds per game (second in the league) and 1.24 steals per game (second among centers). During the 2007–08 NBA season, Camby continued to make his mark as one of the best defensive players and centers in the game. He finished the season averaging 13.1 rebounds per game (second in the league), 18.1 rebounds per 48 minutes (first in the league), 10.2 defensive rebounds per game (second in the league), 14.1 defensive rebounds per 48 minutes (first in the league), 3.61 blocks per game (first in the league), 4.96 blocks per 48 minutes (first in the league), 285 total blocks (first in the league), 1.06 steals per game (third among centers) and 3.3 assists per game (second among centers). On December 26, 2007, in a Nuggets' home win against the Milwaukee Bucks, Camby posted a triple-double, with 10 points (which included a three-pointer), 11 rebounds and 10 blocks. The triple-double was Camby's third of his career and the first since April 19, 1998, against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 14, 2008, in a Nuggets' road loss against the Charlotte Bobcats, Camby had a statistically impressive and rare game of 20 points, 23 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 blocks. He became only the fourth player since 1990 to have at least 20 points, 20 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 blocks in one game. On January 17, 2008, in a Nuggets' home win against the Utah Jazz, Camby became just the third player since blocked shots became an official NBA stat in 1973–74 with at least 24 rebounds and 11 blocks in a game On January 25, 2008, in a Nuggets home win against the New Jersey Nets, Camby blocked 4 shots—and in the process—recorded his 1,000th blocked shot as a member of the Nuggets. On March 16, 2008, in an historic 168–116 home win in regulation over the Seattle SuperSonics (the 168 points were the most points scored in franchise history - fourth most in NBA history - for a non-overtime game), Camby recorded his second triple-double of the 2007–08 NBA season when he had 13 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. The triple-double was accomplished in a NBA record-tying 27 minutes. Return to the New York Knicks (2012–present) On July 11, 2012, Camby was traded to the New York Knicks in a sign-and-trade deal that also involved Toney Douglas, Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan, and two future draft picks going to the Rockets. NBA statistics Regular season Playoffs Category:Roster